The present invention relates generally to water based drinks and more particularly to a water based drink that is formulated especially for people engaged in physical or other strenuous activity.
Physical activity places a great metabolic demand on the human body. One of the important by-products of exercise is increased heat production. Blood flow through exercising muscles may increase to 15 to 20 times the resting level allowing this heat to diffuse from the muscle cell and warm the blood. The exchange of heat between the body and the environment requires that it be transported from the core to the periphery via an augmetation of cutaneous blood flow, by the process of vasodilation. The blood vessels directly below the skin open up and allow blood to circulate near the surface of the body. This acts as a radiation of sorts by bringing the heat to the surface to be dissipated, with the cooler blood returning to the muscles to again be warmed. Heat loss from the skin occurs through conduction, convection (radiation to the environment), or through the evaporation of sweat. During exercise, sweat evaporation is the greatest avenue for heat dissipation.
Loss of sweat from the body is an important physiological consideration. Sweat is hypotonic, that is, it has a lower concentration of salts and other solutes than does blood. Profuse sweating causes excessive loss of body water. This leads to a decrease in sweating rate and less evaporative cooling. Decreased blood volume can lead to a circulatory collapse and decreased evaporative cooling can cause an excessive rise in body temperature. Clinical problems in athletes exposed to environmental heat can vary from temporary heat cramps to fatal heat stroke.
The main problem therefore, in exposure to environmental heat is water loss. The well-hydrated athlete is a more efficient and effective athlete. It is of primary importance that everthing be done to provide adequate hydration before, during, and after all sporting events and other types of strenuous activity.
For example, in football, a 250 lb. athlete may lose as much as 10 lb. or 5 quarts of water in a 90 minute practice. Water is a nutrient critical to athletic performance and is certain situations is critical to the athlete's safety.
A number of different water based drinks formulated especially for persons engaged in strenuous activity are presently being marketed. One of the problems with these drinks, however, is that they all contain sugar. Actually, there is no need for sugar in an athletic drink. Sugar in solutions has been shown to have a potentially detrimental effect on performance. It can severely limit the rate of gastric emptying. Sugar (glucose or sucrose), when consumed before exercise, can actually cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) during exercise.
Obviously, rapid fluid replacement is the primary objective for athletes during competition and for anyone engaging in strenuous physical activity on a hot day. The biggest factor which determines the stomach's emptying rate appears to be the osmolarity of the solution. Osmolarity is defined as the number of dissolved particles in a water solution. It has been found that the osmolarity most ideal for emptying the stomach is around 200 to 210 m Osm per liter or lower. As far as is known, that is substantially less than most commercial products available of this type, which means that all the products will tend to empty more slowly from the stomach and consequently will be more filling for the individual who has to rehydrate rapidly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,913 discloses a water vending machine in which a predetermined quantity of minerals is added to demineralized water to make the water suitable for drinking and/or beneficial to the human system, the minerals including chlorides and sulfates of calcium, magnesium and sodium, soluble salts of other minerals such as iron and manganese and fluorides.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved drink.
It is another object of this invention to provide a water based drink which is especially formulated for people engaged in athletic or other strenuous activity.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a water based drink which is especially formulated for people engaged in strenuous activity that does not include sugar, and for those who must limit the intake of sugar.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a water based drink which includes electrolytes normally lost in strenuous activity.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a water based drink which includes electrolytes normally lost in strenuous activity and in the amounts in which said electrolytes are normally lost.
It is yet still a further object of this invention to provide a water based drink which has a low osmolarity.